Naringenin: Advances on Resources, Biosynthesis Pathway, Bioavailability, Bioactivity, and Pharmacology

Abstract

Nowadays, people tend to adopt natural health-improving sources into their diets due to the increased awareness on the toxicological side effects of industrial drugs. In this point of view, naturally derived bioactive compounds are gaining interest among the society, and flavonoids are one of the bioactive compounds that remain relevant, with over 4000 compounds present. Naringenin is a naturally occurring flavonoid, which belongs to the subclass flavanones. Naringenin is widely found in citrus fruits and tomatoes, and also in bergamot, cocoa, water mint, and cocoa in trace amounts. Strong biological activities of naringenin have been reported in the literature such as anti inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antitumor, antiviral, antibacterial, antiadipogenic, and antidiabetic activities. To the best of our knowledge, a systematic review on the resources, properties, metabolism, and cellular action mechanism of naringenin is scarce in the literature. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the collection of data concerning the evaluation the physicochemical properties, absorption mechanism, and the biological metabolism of naringenin, as well as the toxicology studies, safety issues, marketed products, and patents.